1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chucks for lathes and similar machine tools, and in particular, to chucks suitable for handling thin walled workpieces.
2. Description of the Related Art
On lathes and similar machine tools, chucking pressure can cause distortion in the workpiece that may cause the resulting part to be out of specification when removed from the chuck. This is a common manufacturing problem, especially for thin-walled parts. A six-jaw, manually-operated chuck or a three-jaw, hydraulically powered chuck with wider width jaws sometimes is used on pre-machined inside or outside diametrical surfaces of the workpiece to minimize this problem. Other times, the parts are clamped on a side surface and machined as a secondary operation. In either situation, extra machining or an extra operation is required.